Shooting pot plunger control

Abstract

Disclosed is a method of adjusting a motion profile of a shooting pot plunger for use in a molding system, the shooting pot plunger slidably movable within a shooting pot cavity, the method comprising: sensing a characteristic at a predetermined location in an injection circuit of the molding system; determining that the sensed characteristic is outside of a threshold range; adjusting the motion profile of the shooting pot plunger to account for determining that the sensed characteristic is outside of the threshold range; and storing the adjusted motion profile in a memory.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A shooting pot controller system ( 110 ) for adjusting a motion profile of each of a plurality of shooting pot plungers for use in a molding system, each shooting pot plunger slidably movable within a respective shooting pot cavity, the shooting pot cavity having an inlet for receiving melted resin and an outlet for expelling melted resin, the shooting pot cavity for receiving melted resin from an injection unit comprising:
 a controller ( 152 ) for controlling the operation of the shooting pot plunger in the shooting pot cavity in accordance with the motion profile during an injection cycle to expel melted resin and during a refill cycle to receive melted resin from the injection unit, the motion profile defining (i) a retracted position in which the shooting pot plunger permits melted resin to pass into the shooting pot cavity, (ii) a ready position in which the shooting pot plunger is partially retracted from the outlet and is blocking melted resin from passing through the inlet into the shooting pot cavity, and (iii) a hold position in which the shooting pot plunger is extended into the shoot pot cavity and blocking melted resin from passing through the inlet into the shooting pot cavity; 
 a sensor ( 150 ) for sensing a characteristic at a predetermined location in an injection circuit for the respective shooting pot of the molding system, the sensor in communication with the shooting pot controller; and 
 a database ( 154 ) in communication with the shooting pot controller, the database for storing a mapping between sensed characteristics and motion profile adjustments. 
 
     
     
       2. The shooting pot controller system of  claim 1 , wherein the database maintains the motion profile for the shooting pot plunger ( 132 ). 
     
     
       3. The shooting pot controller system of  claim 1 , further comprising an interface ( 156 ) for outputting the sensed data. 
     
     
       4. The shooting pot controller system of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of shooting pot plungers is independently actuated.